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Developing nations are generally poor compared to developed countries (duh). So they might not be able to afford energy sources with high upfront costs like nuc
by jabl 8y ago
Developing nations are generally poor compared to developed countries (duh). So they might not be able to afford energy sources with high upfront costs like nuclear, solar, or wind.
If you ignore externalities, coal is likely the cheapest, unfortunately.
This is exactly what DIDN'T happen with, say, telecom networks. Developing countries skipped directly to mobile telecom, allowing them to save a lot of money by avoiding the upfront cost of building a wired telecom infrastructure.
- adventured 8y agoI agree with you that poorer developing nations will want to generally avoid high upfront costs to new energy (if they can). Doesn't building new coal plants present high upfront cost just the same?
- greglindahl 8y agoYes. A modern, efficient coal power plant has to be large and takes a while to build. Solar and wind can be built incrementally.
- A2017U1 8y agoThe upfront costs of wind or solar are about the same as building a coal or gas turbine power plant and have far less ongoing costs. Really not sure why people parrot these falsehoods that are easily proven wrong. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/#total1 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/#total1